Recipe: Marinara Sauce

Marinara sauce was created in America, as was what we think of as pizza, as a quick, easy and delicious sauce for pasta. For a little less than 30 minutes worth of time and very little effort one can make a superb tomato sauce that your family will think you simmered all day. Though the name is related to the English word, 'marine' it most often doesn't have fish added- though this is always a great alternative. You can easily add ground meat- beef and/or pork- chopped mushrooms, sauteed bell peppers or whatever else you desire to personalize this tasty sauce.

• 1/2 cup onions, small diced
• 1/2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup red wine, I usually use a good Merlot
• 1 rd Tbs garlic, minced
• 2 tsp parsley flakes
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp oregano, dry
• 1/2 tsp basil, dry
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

1. In a 2 quart sauce pan saute the onions in the olive oil until transparent.
2. Blend the crushed tomatoes in a blender until smooth. Use the water to rinse out the can and the blender add the water and tomatoes to the sauteed onions.
3. Add all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon.

If you are going to add meat or peppers saute them with the onions. Mushrooms can be added when adding all the other ingredients.

When I use the sauce I often add a little extra red wine as I'm reheating it because it thickens as it sits. Like all tomato sauces, it tastes best next day, though it is perfectly wonderful same day. It freezes well and will refrigerate in a sealed container for 10 days.

Sometimes I'm Really Dense

Here I am a professional chef and I omit Beryl's favorite foods from my memory of him:

• He loved chips with medium hot salsa, with or without cheese. He would even eat a couple of corn chips with nothing on them- yes he was a strange and wonderful cat.
• Popcorn with nutritional yeast, garlic powder, tamari and pepper was another favorite.
• The last of ice cream clinging to the pint of a premium brand container Amberwind and I had just finished. He would shove his whole head into it and wear the container for a chance at the bit on the bottom. Then he would cleverly get it off when he was through.
• Any cheese, and I mean any cheese, ever made- untrue of our other cats.

He would barely eat catnip, but preferred to roll in it; unlike Topaz who seemed like a reincarnated Deadhead when it came to his kitty drugs. And when Sapphire came into the house, he could push Beryl, who was very non-aggressive away from his bowl. (But then Sapphire had shown up at our door starving- with his ribs showing- dehydrated and needing pets- what we call skin-food.) Beryl hardly hissed and the few times he did was usually because he was in pain. You could pet him for hours and he'd still want more- unlike any other cat I've ever known. And he'd sit in Amberwind's lap- he slept with me but only occasionally sat in my lap and only when I had fabric on- for hours.

I only wish that everyone gets a chance to have such an affectionate, smart, wise and occasionally annoying critter like him in their lives.

Personal Reflection- Occupy Wall Street

I am an entrepreneur and small business owner- a capitalist, BUT I support the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Why am I a 99%er! I'm a small business owner no one is going to bail out if I fail. I pay taxes and am realistic enough to know I'll never be rich being a restaurateur in a small town. I believe in balanced budgets, but in the Lesser Depression I'm a Keynesian who wants to see a REAL stimulus package of about $1.5 trillion. I believe Wall Street is NOT the real economy- they neither produce goods nor offer a service that helps most. The advise their investors and then bet against them. They lie and give inaccurate advise if it benefits them. It is a business driven first and foremost by greed and the lack of the regulations put in place after the Great Depression has allowed this all to happen- thanks to Reagan, Clinton & both Bushes, who all deregulated them in the false belief that they'd regulate themselves. The have rubbed in our faces the bail; out they got with giving themselves outrageous bonuses for what?! Tanking the world economy?! And I am a believer in a progressive tax rate. They have bought, if not the best congress (Democrat and Republican) money can buy, it's pretty close. And Obama has made lame half-assed statements calling them out for their greed and they BLAST him as anti-business, when he has been anything but.

It's time for accountability: there are Wall Street types who should be in jail; members of congress voted out of office for their unyielding support of deregulation of the financial system; To-big-to-fail banks and financial institutions broken up; investment earnings should be taxed at income tax levels versus the 15% capital gains tax- which should be eliminated and make all capital gains simple income; we need to rewrite the tax code, end all deductions and make a progressive flat tax for individuals and corporations; but most of all we have to get money OUT of politics and pass an amendment to the Constitution that ends the definition of speech as including money and that corporations are not individuals.

These beliefs put me in the company of that great "Socialist" Warren Buffet; better company I could not ask to be included in. I think most Americans have no idea what Socialism means, but, just like the throwing around of Hitler's name for anyone who disagrees with them, they will continue to use it- continuously. That's because whenever money is tight we eliminate money for schools and teachers first- we have dumbed down the populous. The Corporate-Oligarchy have fed the populous the modern equivalent of the Roman Emperors 'Bread & Circuses'- 'Bud & Circuses; couch potatoes fed on beer, reality TV and sports. But Americans are waking up. First there was the Tea Party- They've been co-opted but it was the beginning of 'We the People' starting to stand up. Now there is Occupy Wall Street.... Let's just hope it isn't co-opted as well.

Personal Reflection- The Most Amazing Cat

Its been a while since I posted.... as always, life has been busy, so I'm sorry for the delay. 


But today I want to share what my cat Beryl was like. Beryl was 16 years old when he died. He had become a diabetic in the last year of his life. Beryl had become fat from the steroids used to keep in check the chlamydia that is a dental disease in cats- and different from the chlamydia bacterium that affects humans- which he caught from our older cat Topaz; who groomed him regularly and who we had put to sleep months earlier. Topaz got it the one time he got out and disappeared for hours. Unfortunately he was misdiagnosed from a local vet practice who refused to listen to what we had observed and believed was the problem- a dental disease. (Later on we found out that other vet practice disliked cats and had done the same thing to several other folks- not liking cats they refused to keep up on the most recent medicine affecting them.) Its been a year since our vet met us at 2am to put him to sleep (thank you Dr Wilmeth for being so caring). He was panting and in pain. Beryl's kidneys had shut down, but we didn't figure that out until days later.

In a lifetime of pets, Beryl was the first who I had from being a kitten (or puppy) for his whole life. He slept with me- tucked under my arm- every night of his life. This alone would have been enough to endear him, but there was so much more to this BIG personality that made him lovable and a grade A pain at times.

It was coming up on Amberwind's birthday. We were working more and more and had Topaz for a little over a year; which was Topaz' age. Two cats usually do better than one if they're going to be alone a lot throughout the day. I went into the cat room at the Albuquerque Human Society building and all the cats were quiet, except this one  6 week old kitten. I've had Maine Coon mixes before and loved them and though I was hoping to find one I wasn't hopeful I'd actually see one. One look and it was obvious he was a mix- which was confirmed by the AHS workers. (They knew who his mother was and her owners- a show cat who had gotten out and 'caught' by a street cat- and "Berlioz" as the AHS called him had escaped the yard of his mama's home. It turned out his mama's family didn't want him back, but I had to wait 10 days for them to not come for him before the AHS would let me take him home.) When I saw the future "Beryl" was half Maine Coon I asked if I could hold this howling ball of fluff. He had the ringed tail, ear-tufts and neck ruff typical of his breed.Beryl jumped into my hand, jumped from there to my shoulder and then stuck his nose in my ear and began purring and licking my ear. I was in love.


When I got him home Topaz was terrified of this bouncing ball of energy and ran away from him for about 2 weeks. That changed over the years and besides grooming Beryl Topaz and he often slept in a pile. The first thing that was obviously different about Beryl was how, after a couple of days Beryl realized that the cat in the mirror we had sitting on the floor was him. After that the thing that set him apart was his dog like behavior of greeting anyone who entered our apartment. Well not actually everyone. The half dozen or so folks he hid from all proved to be people that tried to screw us over in some way. He was less than a year old the first time this happened. Unlike most cats, Maine Coons will get affection from every member of the family, but except for that handful of people he ran from, everyone who walked through our door was instantly expected to admire, pet and croon over him.

 Amberwind and Beryl asleep on the couch together- a favorite position for both. This is my computer's wallpaper.

His intelligence became even more obvious as he taught- through example- Topaz how to open and enter kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Beryl hated closed doors and quickly figured out how to slide open sliding closet doors and accordion doors. He later mastered jumping up and twisting a door knob with his front paws while kicking a closed door with his hind feet. It would take about seven tries, but as long as the door opened in the direction he wanted to go he would eventually get a closed door opened. Funny, but I just realized that I never saw him try to use a doorknob on a door that opened against the direction he was trying to go in.

Beryl loved rubber bands. We had them in a junk-drawer in the kitchen until it became obvious that he would wait until Amberwind and I were not home to pull them out of said drawer. It took us awhile to figure out that Beryl had jumped on the kitchen counter to get them out since he would ALWAYS re-shut the drawer after snagging the rubber bands out. Smart and sneaky!


When we bought our house we experienced a new level of intelligence as we saw how he had mastered the concept of mirrors. Our master bedroom suite has a bathroom with a large vanity that has a huge mirror as long as the vanity and 4 feet high. When one entered our bedroom, if Beryl was upon the vanity- which he was, often grooming himself looking in the mirror- he would stop grooming as you entered, look you in the eyes via the reflection in the mirror and chatter at you. He would never turn to look at  you, but as you approached and moved your hand to pet the top of his head, Beryl would stretch his head and meet your hand for the stroke. Beryl would also sit there and watch our other two cats- after we took in Sapphire- in the mirror, and without missing a beat he would simultaneously spin, leap and jump on them having figured out exactly where the other two were behind him using the reflection. Watching him do this feat was just mind-blowing. Most dogs and cats NEVER understand how a mirror works and try to attack or at least get to the animal they see in the mirror without realizing it's them. Beryl KNEW it was him!


Beryl also loved being in boxes and paper bags, especially the large ones from Trader Joe's. But where most cats would run into a bag when you scratched the back of it, trying to find the thing making the noise, Beryl would run around the bag and jump on your hand. Same for scratching other things to get him to play- he would go for the movement if your hand was, say, under a blanket and making it jiggle, but if he saw no movement he'd go under or around whatever piece of material that was blocking his way to seek out the noise. But then he was a fabric kitty and loved crawling under and nesting in any fabric he could find. (Beryl wasn't allowed in our closets for that reason and when we bought our home one of the reasons we liked it was because the closet doors were ones he couldn't open because they opened out, not in.)


He entertained all of our guests with his warmth and antics. He was there when either Amberwind or I were sick with purring comfort. He played bed warmer in winter and alarm clock every work morning, seeming to understand our schedules, including our regular days off. Beryl knew the sounds of each of our vehicles and would set up a racket whenever one of us returned home. He knew when I said, "Goodnight Beryl" and would often beat me to the bedroom from wherever in the house we were, though he almost always arrived as I was getting into the bed- except when Amberwind was going to stay up and was doing something interesting. Beryl insisted on being the center of attention and always, well mostly, made it worth your while. Beryl was.... Beryl and I still miss him terribly.

A fifteen year old, Beryl losing his belly hair from the steroids that he needed. this is my cell phone's wallpapaer.

Someday we'll add another cat to our family, until then Sapphire is getting necessary attention, his being a skittish but affection needy guy. I already know where the Tucson Maine Coon rescue folks are at. There will never be another Beryl, but each Maine Coon I've had was a loving and affectionate fellow. I've been lucky to have many a loving pet in my life, but Life wouldn't have been as good as it has been without the sixteen years Beryl was part of my life.

PS: I forgot some of the stranger abilities of Beryl. For one, he KNEW his name- something dogs usually do, but not true for most cats. He understood the word "Goodnight" as meaning bedtime, whether I called his name with it or not. If he was playing rough and biting, the word, "Gentle" stopped him. And finally, he always knew, no matter the time of day, if I called out, "Breakfast" that he was going to get fed. Most cats don't learn individual words, but he did.

Recipe: Grilled Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms

Well, I gave you the recipe for the Roasted Red Pepper Pesto that tops this, so I should probably share our most popular vegetarian item- beloved of meat-eaters as well as vegetarians. Serves 2 to 4 people.

•  4 large portabello mushrooms, destemmed and washed

MARINADE:

• 1/2 cup cooking sherry
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs garlic, minced
• 1 tsp basil, dry

FILLING:

• 12 oz low aft cream cheese or neufchatel
• 4 Tbs fresh chives or scallions, chopped
• 2 Tbs fresh basil, chopped
• 1 Tbs warm water
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• 1 pinch nutmeg

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together and warm until just simmering. Marinate the mushrooms overnight in the refrigerator, with a weight upon them to keep them from floating above the liquid.
2. Combine all the filling ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
3. To cook the Mushrooms you can either grill them, use your broiler or cook in a non-stick pan with a whisper of olive oil. Cook gill side down for 1 1/;2 minutes on medium-high heat.
4. Turn and cook 1 minute more.
5. Fill the cap with a goodly amount of the of cheese mixture- with large enough mushrooms you'll use about a quarter of the mixture each.
6. At this point transfer your stuffed mushroom into a non-stick pan with a cover or create a cover you can use with the mushroom placed on aluminum foil if broiling or grilling. Melt the cheese by covering and steaming them by carefully adding a little warm water (about 1/2 Tbs) to the pan- or onto the foil. Keep covered tightly while steaming and let cook 1 to 1 1/2  minutes.
7. To Serve;: Place each mushroom on a plate over a bed of spinach or mixed greens. Garnish with a few Tbs to a 1/4 cup of the Roasted Red Pepper Pesto.

Filling will last up to 2 weeks when refrigerated in a covered container. Mushrooms can stay marinating up to a week before they get too soft. Marinade can be used twice before too much flavor is lost and will keep about a month in a closed container.

You can use smaller portabellos  if you want to use them as an appetizer.

Honey, I'm Home

Today is the 10th anniversary of the restaurant-  I'm celebrating by staying home and keeping up on this blog, Facebook, Twitter and editing the cookbook.

We don't really celebrate the anniversary with our fourth day open being 9/11. It always seemed crass and insensitive. We did celebrate the 7th anniversary and we will the 11th the same way- calling it "Lucky Eleven" and having drawings for tapas at the bar and free dinners. But the so called 'big anniversaries' like the fifth and tenth will be ignored. I hope the best celebration for this anniversary will be Sous chef George winning the "Farm to Chef" challenge at the Farmer's Market this weekend. I have no doubt he'll take one of the 3 top places! He's come along way in the past three years.

A few thoughts:

• The radio program in Tucson was fun! Thanks to all who got me there!
• I still haven't heard back from the Culinary Institute of America to make the necessary changes in my post about the different types of chefs. Chef's who do big bold food can be either working stiffs who just do what they do or prima donnas- if I hadn't made that clear. Burn outs and those in leaving mode rarely do so and when they do it is often to disastrous effect.
• Editing the cookbook has been slower than I want. Don't know how to change that.
• Can't decide what recipe to put up next, but I need to decide once I finish this post!

This Labor Day Weekend was just okay. Figures were up from a typical weekend but not enough to feel like a traditional/pre-lesser depression holiday weekend ($4300 this year vs $4600 last year vs $6700 in 2007- the year the "recession" officially started in November; which I called just after Thanksgiving weekend 2007) I really think this is going to be a deep depression if the government doesn't do REAL large- $1.5 trillion at least- stimulus, but articles like this make me despair. Why would anyone vote for someone that was so anti-government that they would tear it down. In a different time we would call that person an Anarchist, now we call them a Republican. I don't believe in Big government, nor Small government- I want an efficient adaptable government able to meet the times- and that changes as the needs/threats/economy/world/climate/etc. changes. Sometimes I despair that a third of the population has declared the government the "ENEMY" instead of wanting to Take Back our government to once again make it the government of, by and for the people. I blame Reagan on this one- he could have said we needed to take the government back into our control versus declaring it the problem. That has now become the belief of too many people and so government is grid-locked, the size stimulus even conservative non-Keynesian economists like Bruce Bartlett believes we need are ignored and Keynes is declared irrelevant even though Obama was too much of a wimp to ask for the level of stimulus needed. Lessons from history is declared void and 1937 and a double dip depression is upon us as we tragically do austerity and debt reduction instead of MASSIVE government spending to get us out of the job crisis and reduce the debt another day. In 1937 Roosevelt made the same mistake, the economy re-tanked and economists- to keep Americans from being terrorized by the double dip depression- added a new word to their lexicon; "Recession". We've been bullshitting ourselves and calling depressions "recessions" ever since. "Those who don't learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them" isn't just a old-fashioned saying without truth or purpose! We have little attention-span in this country and even less of a sense or knowledge of history. We make the same mistakes too often and are doomed to continue making them despite the fact that we should know better. I fear we will see a decade of little to no economic growth, few jobs created, unemployment staying high, the middle-class keep slipping, the reversal of functioning social safety nets and the rich just getting richer. We've had several revolutions in this country- though the are rarely taught and definitely not taught as revolutions; i.e.: The Whiskey Rebellion- and if things don't change "Bread & Circuses" as the Roman Emperors called it, or Bud & Circuses (beer, NASCAR, reality TV, sports) as I call it, will eventually not be enough to keep the masses placid and mollified. The Tea Party is not a rebellion, it is the corporate/media/political-insider manipulation of fear and discontent of a fast changing world. But the elderly in the Tea party don't want changes in Medicare or Social Security- "keep the government's hands off" those programs, though they are government programs. As people stay unemployed, as the programs they like disappear, as the legislators they elect give themselves more perks and fewer roads and bridges are repaired, they WILL wake up! And I wouldn't want to be part of the anti-government/pro-wealthy only crowd at that point. Mobs are ugly things, and they will probably NOT resort to changing things via one person one vote; if they still have it at that point. Democracy IS fragile and the Republicans are leading those who are appealed to first and foremost out of fear and other emotional vs rational appeals into believing in policies that are counter their own self-interests. When they wake up to how badly they've been screwed I wouldn't want to be a conservative politician.

Then again, maybe I've just become too cynical as I've fought to keep my business surviving. We'll know in a few years.

Holiday Weekends

are crazy and very busy, so I won't be posting until probably Tuesday. I promise another recipe as well as thoughts. Meanwhile, we had a nutso night with First Friday Beer Tasting, The Taste of Downtown event thrown by Mainstreet as a fund raiser and one of our staff conveniently forgetting how I told her I'd need her tonight so she went out of town. Thankfully other people heard me tell her so I don't think I'm totally nuts. Amberwind and I believe she's in leaving mode and just isn't fully involved any more. I like her, but, as much as I hate letting anyone go, I might just have to. I will miss her great sense of humor.